Four members of a drugs smuggling gang have been jailed for their roles in an attempt to import £13.8 million worth of cannabis into the UK through Birmingham Airport.
Border Force officers seized 460 kilograms of the Class B drug from 22 suitcases in August 2024 after the couriers arrived from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Eight of the suitcases contained Apple AirTag trackers, with National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators finding that the devices were connected to the same Apple ID account.
The AirTags helped investigators establish links between luggage used in the operation, while Border Force identified linked passengers and intercepted the cannabis at the airport. Four men were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on 21 September, with seven other people involved in the operation also convicted and due to be sentenced in October.
AirTags Link Luggage Used by Couriers
The court heard that each courier was carrying two suitcases containing about 20 kilograms of cannabis, with 460 kilograms seized across the 22 bags. The drugs had been vacuum-packed and covered with a thin layer of clothing.
The luggage was so heavy that the couriers had to pay excess baggage charges at Bangkok Airport before the suitcases were loaded onto the aircraft.
Four members of a drugs smuggling gang who were part of a plot to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK via Birmingham Airport have been sentenced.
— National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) September 21, 2026
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Investigators found that the eight AirTags were connected to the same Apple ID account, helping establish a connection between luggage used by different couriers in the operation.
Messages recovered during the investigation also showed that at least one courier had been given instructions for after arriving in the UK. The courier was told not to leave the airport until a designated contact had been seen, even if the luggage had already appeared on the baggage carousel.
Border Force Seizes £13.8m Cannabis
The NCA said Border Force identified that four passengers had travelled from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle earlier on 9 August 2024, with each carrying two large suitcases.
The passengers later arrived in the UK on flights from Thailand via Paris. Border Force officers fully staffed the airport's 'Nothing to Declare' customs channel, where the cannabis was discovered in the luggage.
The wider operation involved 11 people. Carsten Kyei, 21, from Newham, east London, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, while Bradley Lloyd, 27, from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, received four years.
A 21-year-old British-Ghanaian man, Carsten Kyei, has been convicted for his role in a plot to smuggle £13.8m worth of cannabis into the UK through Birmingham Airport.
— CDR AFRICA (@cdrafrica) August 26, 2026
The drugs were found in 22 suitcases carried by 11 couriers who had travelled from Thailand via France in… pic.twitter.com/FptBS7zT3Z
Lewis Ross, 35, from Bolton, Lancashire, and Nathan Vitorino, 26, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, were each sentenced to two years and eight months.
Kyei and Vitorino were convicted on 26 May following a three-week trial, while Ross and Lloyd changed their pleas to guilty during the same trial.
Seven More Convicted as Airport Arrests Rise
Seven other people involved in the operation have also been convicted and are due to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on 22 October.
Paige Crisp, Tasia Nelson and Jaden Ramen were convicted on 19 August following a four-week trial. Claire McCullough, Ryan Boachie, Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun and Jamal Clarke pleaded guilty at earlier hearings.
The case comes as the NCA reports a sharp increase in cannabis courier arrests at UK airports. There were 801 arrests in 2024, a 464 per cent increase on the previous year. The figure rose to 976 in 2025, while 600 air-passenger couriers were arrested between January and June 2026.
The NCA has also launched a social-media campaign warning young people about being recruited to smuggle cannabis from Thailand to the UK. The campaign directs people to Crimestoppers for information and anonymous reporting.
